Fink Bernhard, Neave Nick, Seydel Hanna
Department of Sociobiology/Anthropology, University of Göttingen, D-37073 Göttingen, Germany.
Am J Hum Biol. 2007 Jan-Feb;19(1):82-7. doi: 10.1002/ajhb.20583.
Previous studies showed that male faces with extreme features that are likely to be associated with testosterone (T) are perceived as dominant and masculine. Women were reported to prefer masculinized male faces, as they may consider T markers to be an "honest" indication of good health. However, it is also likely that female preferences for certain male faces arise from the fact that dominant- and masculine-looking males are signaling characteristics which may be beneficial in intrasexual conflict, and thereby also indicate potential achievers of high status, an important factor in female mate selection. Although numerous studies were built on this assumption, nothing is known about the relationship between perceived facial dominance and physical strength in men. We measured hand-grip strength, as a measure of overall physical strength, in a sample of 32 male students, and recorded age, body weight, and height. Seventy-nine women rated facial images of these men for dominance, masculinity, and attractiveness. After controlling for age and body weight, hand-grip strength was found to correlate significantly positively with all three measures. The present data thus support the supposition that a male's physical strength is also signaled via facial characteristics of dominance and masculinity, which are considered attractive by women.
先前的研究表明，具有极端特征且可能与睾酮（T）相关的男性面孔被视为具有主导性和阳刚之气。据报道，女性更喜欢男性化的男性面孔，因为她们可能认为睾酮标志是健康良好的“诚实”指标。然而，女性对某些男性面孔的偏好也可能源于这样一个事实，即看起来具有主导性和阳刚之气的男性所传达的特征在同性冲突中可能是有益的，因此也表明他们有可能获得高地位，这是女性选择配偶的一个重要因素。尽管众多研究基于这一假设展开，但对于男性面部的主导性认知与体力之间的关系却一无所知。我们在一个由32名男学生组成的样本中测量了握力，以此作为整体体力的指标，并记录了年龄、体重和身高。79名女性对这些男性的面部图像进行了主导性、阳刚之气和吸引力方面的评分。在控制了年龄和体重因素后，发现握力与所有这三项指标均呈显著正相关。因此，目前的数据支持这样一种假设，即男性的体力也通过具有主导性和阳刚之气的面部特征得以体现，而这些特征被女性认为具有吸引力。
